Law School Investigated Prof Who Says Women Shouldn't Vote, Work, Or Wear Pants And Found No Discrimination

He's resigned as Associate Dean, but is still on the faculty.

Brian McCall

The controversy surrounding University of Oklahoma College of Law faculty member, Brian McCall (if you haven’t heard about him, he wrote in 2014 that women should only wear skirts, are led into the workplace by the devil, shouldn’t vote, that same-sex marriage was “insanity” and that African-American studies was a “nonsense” subject — he’s a real peach) has taken another turn. Yesterday, amid uproar over McCall’s stated positions, Dean Joseph Harroz, Jr. emailed the law school with an explanation, of sorts, about what’s been going on behind the scenes.

In the email, Dean Harroz condemns the offensive statements made by McCall. Since the statement the school had previously made about the controversy was about McCall’s First Amendment rights, this was a welcomed change. Harroz notes that his previous silence on the matter was because the law school had engaged an outside firm to investigate potential discrimination or harassment by McCall, but now the investigation has concluded and cleared McCall. Due to the controversy over the statements, McCall is stepping down as Associate Dean, but will remain on the faculty:

Due to the concerns about those statements, as well as our desire to uphold our values of inclusivity and respect for all people, an independent review was undertaken by an outside law firm through the university’s Equal Opportunity Office. Because of this review, I was asked to refrain from making any comments. I recognize that this has caused additional concern and frustrations, for which I am truly sorry.

I can now tell you that the independent review has uncovered no evidence of workplace harassment or discrimination. Despite this conclusion, Brian McCall has voluntarily resigned his position as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, effective immediately, because of the controversy about his personal statements.

Additionally, the dean will be holding meetings with students to air their concerns about McCall.

For the sake of the students at OU, I’m glad McCall didn’t discriminate against the female students who dared to wear pants around him. But that doesn’t mean everything is hunky-dory at the law school. They still employ a man who has seriously retrograde opinions about women (with a splash of homophobia and pinch of racism, just to make it interesting) and who has connections to publications classified as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

And it is telling that the school was apparently unaware of the content of McCall’s book for four years before the OU Daily called him out. In 2014, the school knew enough about him to promote him to Associate Dean for Academics, but had no idea he was publishing a book that said women in the workforce were led there by the devil? If this is emblematic of the thoroughness of the job interviews white men usually receive, no wonder Brett Kavanaugh went apoplectic when faced with difficult questions.

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Read the full email from Dean Harroz below:

Dear OU Law Community,

I appreciate hearing from those of you who have reached out to me. I understand your frustration and concern about statements made by Associate Dean Brian McCall. I assure you that I do not agree with those statements.

Due to the concerns about those statements, as well as our desire to uphold our values of inclusivity and respect for all people, an independent review was undertaken by an outside law firm through the university’s Equal Opportunity Office. Because of this review, I was asked to refrain from making any comments. I recognize that this has caused additional concern and frustrations, for which I am truly sorry.

I can now tell you that the independent review has uncovered no evidence of workplace harassment or discrimination. Despite this conclusion, Brian McCall has voluntarily resigned his position as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, effective immediately, because of the controversy about his personal statements.

The OU College of Law is a place of inclusion. Beyond ensuring the college is free from illegal harassment or discrimination, the college must prepare tomorrow’s leaders – our students – for the world in which they will serve. It would be a disservice to them if we did not provide an educational experience that presents diverse subject matter, encourages thoughtful conversation and debate, and prepares them to practice in an increasingly diverse world. This commitment is reflected in our first-year class, which is the second class in the history of the OU College of Law to have more women than men, and which has the highest percentage of minority students of any class in the history of the college. Attracting students from diverse backgrounds ensures that all points of view will be heard in our classrooms and, ultimately, in our society.

At all levels of the college, we promote the importance of diversity, multiculturalism, inclusion, and equality for all students, faculty, and staff. Our educational efforts and programs in these areas continue to grow. Last year, we created a standing Dean’s Committee on Diversity and Inclusion with our student leaders. This committee has a dual charge: to ensure regular college-wide programming focused on diversity, and to serve as a student forum with the dean to find solutions when issues arise in the college that negatively impact the student experience. Additionally, we continue to seek the wisdom and leadership of our alumni. Our Dean’s Alumni Diversity Council, established earlier this year, is charged with developing recommendations that will help OU Law grow in this mandate and positively impact the lives of our students.

My top priority is our students and providing a safe and inclusive environment to learn, grow and work. I will continue to ensure that we focus on these values.

For further questions and discussion, tomorrow I’ll be hosting a series of meetings with students, faculty, and staff. Invitations will be forthcoming. Should you want to meet with me outside of these meetings, I welcome the opportunity.

If you or anyone you know has experienced bias, harassment or discrimination within the university or the college, I encourage you to contact the university’s Equal Opportunity Office through its 24-hour reporting hotline by calling (844) 428-6531 or going online to www.ou.ethicspoint.com, or reach out to me directly.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. You are always welcome to visit with me about these and other issues at OU Law. Only through our collective efforts will we be able to achieve our shared goals of inclusiveness and respect.

Sincerely,

Dean Harroz


headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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